Public education could be better than it is. That’s true across the nation and in Georgia. While many of the problems in public schools are a reflection of dysfunction in society at-large, some students are still getting less than they deserve from a structure that has become rigid from internal sclerosis.

It’s that reality that has many Georgia voters ready to support the proposed Amendment 1 on Nov. 6, better known as the “charter schools amendment.” Supporters of that plan say it is a way for parents and others frustrated by the current system to take control of their child’s school and improve education for the state’s underserved children.

If only that were true. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with this proposed amendment.
A lot has been written about this proposal and voters are being courted by both sides. But like so many issues that get debated in the public domain, there’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye.
Consider these two points:

1. There is already a system in place for the creation of public charter schools in any community in the state. Over 100 charter schools currently exist in the state. The current system begins by petition with the local board of education; if that board turns down the idea, those behind the proposal have an appeals process to the state to override the local board. So if it’s already possible to create charter schools, what’s the point of the proposed amendment? Because under this amendment, an appointed group of state bureaucrats would be created to decide on local charter school applications. That would allow a charter school petition to bypass the local and state boards of education and go directly to that appointed group in Atlanta. Why is that important? Because it would make it much easier for large private companies that manage public charter schools, some of which are funding a campaign to promote this amendment, to break into Georgia and expand their business. The problem with this is, there would be little accountability over these public charter schools that spend public tax dollars.

2. If this amendment gets approved, it would change how state funds are given to charter schools. Although these charter schools would get no local funds, they would get much more in state funding than existing public schools. But the state can’t afford to do that in today’s economic downturn. The state has already cut funding to local school systems, a move that has created the furlough days and other budget cuts in many local schools. There are only so many dollars in the state’s education budget pie; if more of those limited dollars are diverted to public charter schools, it will shrink the overall amount available to traditional public schools. How does that help education overall in the state?

One of the problems in this debate is that many people are confused over what “charter” means. It has a connotation of being some kind of private school, which it is not. These are public schools funded with tax dollars. The difference is, charter schools are allowed to bypass some state requirements in return for meeting certain education standards.
A number of top state political leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, seem to believe that system is superior to the current public school system and they support this charter school amendment.
But if approved, what this amendment would lead to is the creation of a parallel public school system in the state. The traditional public schools would exist, but with less available money. The charter system would also exist and be funded by tax dollars paid to private management firms. Yet that system would have virtually no accountability for the spending of those tax dollars.
So in the big picture, this charter school amendment would do little to improve the overall education of students in Georgia’s public schools. It is a patchwork plan designed to appease large school management firms who stand to gain millions of dollars in new contracts and an easier path to get those schools approved. If that’s not the case, then why are those firms pumping so much money behind the pro-amendment efforts?

Instead of promoting more charter schools by the state, why don’t Georgia leaders instead reform the public school system they’re already in charge of? Why not remove many of the onerous requirements currently being imposed by the state on local schools and free up all schools in Georgia to be more creative and innovative? Why not apply the same theories of charter schools to all public schools?
State official have that power. They fund and control the state department of education. If they wanted, state leaders could do a major reform of the entire education system in the state.
So why don’t they do that?

If the approval of Amendment 1 would really shake up the status quo, generate education innovation and improve public schools, it would undoubtedly get wide support in the state.
But that’s not the true situation. The approval of this measure would only lead to the further fracturing of public education in Georgia by creating a second public school system that has even less accountability than the current structure.
This “cure” would, in the long run, be worse than the problems it seeks to remedy.
Voters should say “No” to Amendment 1 and demand that the state fix the system it has before creating a new one.

Mike Buffington is co-publisher the Barrow Journal. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.

3)Implement "pay for play" system for all extra curricular activities. You want to participate, you cover the cost.

4)Let the schools compete for the tax dollars parents pay for the school systems. Let the parents decide what school they want to send their children to, and the tax dollars follows the child (public or private school).

That's how you begin to put the education system on the right track and more competitive with the world.

#2.2
Tired of People Complaining about TEACHERS!
on
10/20/12 at 04:09 PM
[Reply]

In reply to your #2:

Georgia does no have Teacher Unions. So there would be no "Abolish Teacher Unions" for the State of Georgia. It is against the law to have teacher Unions in Georgia! The "Teacher Unions" I think you are referring to are Teacher Associations that teachers can CHOOSE to be a member of, they are not MANDATORY or UNIONS. They are ASSOCIATIONS!!! The two main teacher Associations in Georgia are PAGE, Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and NEA, National Educators Association. Feel free to visit their websites to learn more about each Association! They are not UNIONS! If the teachers of Barrow County were in a Union, half of the things that are going on in the system and at the state level of education would not be happening and teachers would not be threatened or treated as they are by Administrators and County Office Personnel!

You can call them "associations" if you want. Each of these groups websites identifies themselves as both, professional groups and unions. Because Georgia is a Right to Work State and for the most part, unions have a bad name in this state, these groups have saught to call themselves associations instead of unions.

It's easy to spot a avid union supporter, because they are the ones screaming, "Georgia doesn't have Teacher's Unions." Even Obama is learning the hard way, just because you say it often and loud, doesn't make it factual.

I stand corrected. I have never heard of this M.A.C.E. Although they may call themselves a union, most teachers do not view them that way. After looking at the M.A.C.E website it looks more like they specialize in representing teachers in legal matters, for a fee of course. Being a member of any of these associations is not going to give you a way to stay employed if you don't do your job.

Mike the only problem is that some (if not most) of the local BOE do not want charter schools. They see it as a rebuke of what they are currently doing. Yes, we can appeal but that takes time. Under the proposed process, an outside group will look at the current school system and be able to decide if they are doing a good job. If they are, then no charter school. If they are not, (Such as Barrow County) then they can make the BOE have charters. It does add a government arm (which I dont like more government) but in this case I think it is a win,

Well, the proposed amendment doesn't make the local BOE have a charter; it creates a charter from the state level. In practice, that means it will contract with a private management firm to operate a charter school. The issue is, who is responsible for the accountability of that charter school's money and results? Not the local BOE; not the state BOE. And if there is a problem, who do parents go to, the private management firm? Under this particular proposal, there is no local accountability of these schools.
BTW, Barrow is a state charter school now so the approval of another state charter school here likely wouldn't happen.
Make no mistake, this issue is about money, not reforming education in the state. It is being driven by the large management firms that want an easier path to get into Georgia so they can expand their management contracts.

I think most people in barrow are just too stupid to know how a school system should be ran, that includes the Boeing who are all from barrow county. Therefore the best thing to do is go ahead and admit that simple fact to yourselves and let people who are smarter than the collective electorate here in barrow run the school system. Perhaps then with the passage of a sufficient amount of time the as yet unborn children in barrow would have time to grow up and take overage running of their county and school system.
That won't just happen overnight though.

The reality is a charter school makes NO differance in how your education tax dollars are spent. The goverment money for school funding follows the child regardless of what school they attend. A school receives "x" amount of dollars for one child enrolled in that specific school. If I as a parent remove my child from that school, and place him in a school in a differant county, guess what? That school will get "x" amount of dollars instead of the school I just removed the child from. And if I were to remove him from that school and place him in a private school, no school will receive the "x" amount for that child.

The real issue is charter schools better educate with the same amount of tax dollars per student. Make no mistake, the real issue is school staffs will be forced to actually do thier jobs and teach under this system. That is why it is being faught so hardly.

That formula isn't the case in this Amendment proposal. If this charter school plan passes, the state will fund state chartered schools at about twice the per student amount as it does "regular" schools. A state chartered public school would get no local funding, so the state will make up for that by giving charter school per student funds roughly double the amount it gives other schools. Does that seem like a fair way to fund education in the state?

Something that no one is discussing is who will get to attend these charter schools. Seems like an opportunity to have certain "privileged" children attend, while everyone else is left with poorly funded schools. While I agree that Georgia's, and especially Barrow County's, schools need revamping, I don't believe turning schools over to private entities is the answer, especially not with taxpayer money. I know that there is a nationwide campaign to do away with the federal Education department and this seems just another tactic to use toward that end. Why don't we just spend the money to fix the system we have?

On average charter students will be funded at 62% of the level of traditional public school students (or 82% if you remove virtual charter students from the comparison).

While the total amount spent on charter students is much less, it is true that all of the funds will come from the state, and this is true for one simple reason: local school districts successfully sued to prevent the "local" portion of funding from following students to a state sponsored charter school.

yes, but charter schools aren't required to provide transportation and can avoid many other mandates that traditional public schools are required by the state to follow. In the big picture, how does any of that help the overall education in the state?

It shouldn't be the school's responsibility to get children to and from school. Having the parents take the child to and from school will eventually get them more involved. If nothing else, the parents would at least KNOW where the school is.

If this was the government mandating that all firearms and archery equipment be held at an armory, and could only be "checked" in and out for 8 hours at a time, people would be screaming and yelling about the poor quality of hunting and security equipment.

But the fact of the matter is that 80% of the population uses the school system as a babysitting service. Personally, if only the "privledged" few get to attend these charter schools then so be it. At least my child will be with a group of children that WANT to learn, and who are there to learn, and not be surrounded by a group of welfare babies that are only there because the law requires them to be.

The best evidence shows that charter schools close most of the "achievement gap" between poor and middle class students. More generally we know that competition and choice have improved nearly every other aspect of American life, and we need much more of that in education. Effective innovation and true accountability is not going to come from within a system that is protected from competition.

The results of charter schools across the country are mixed. Some are better, some worse, many are about the same. There is no magic bullet in education reform, although charter schools are being sold as if they are THE answer. Here's an article that gives what I think is a rather balanced view of that question:

My perspective is that Diana Ravitch specializes in comparing of apples and oranges. You absolutely must control for student characteristics when considering education outcomes data and I believe the best evidence is summarized here:

Like you I believe there is no magic bullet, and to really make an impact we must all adopt a reform mindset. Charter schools are a part of that reform mindset and make a real difference for some students

Typical Barrow County....`we know what we have doesn't work. So rather than attempt something new to fix or challenge what is broken, let's keep doing the SOS in hopes that this time we can do it better.' I am glad my kids graduated from Jefferson city schools!

You claim we have some of the best teachers in Barrow County, and put the blame on the leadership.

Charter Schools will allow these teachers to work in an environment that will allow them to prosper. Those who don't perform will be cut loose, those who perform, will be rewarded. The local BOE will have no say in the Charter Schools.

As for funding, Charter Schools receive all their funding from the state. No local school taxes will be used to fund the Charter Schools, that money will continue to fund the local county schools.

Charter Schools are by far a BETTER SOLUTION to the education problem than to continue funding and dumping more money into the current government schools.

FOLLOW THE MONEY if you really want to know what this is all about.....

FACT 1: Every single one of our school boards are paid for their “public service.” This accounts for $4.1 MILLION dollars in salary. With the austerity cuts, are board members donating their salaries back to put into classrooms? Nope. Just as an aside, charter board members receive $0 in compensation. Ever.

FACT 2: Nearly one third of the superintendents in this state make in excess of $150,000 yearly. Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks, of Gwinnett County, makes $410,000 annually, followed closely by superintendents from Clayton, Atlanta Public Schools, Savannah-Chatham, Fulton, and Cobb (3 of which are in danger of loss of accreditation, by the way). 47 superintendents took a raise last year while furloughing educators.

FACT 3: Our state spent $686 MILLION dollars on central office. 77 out of our 180 districts serve less than 3000 students and have FULL central offices and account for $67 MILLION dollars of the total spent. In these tough economic times, are districts in rural areas combining central offices to reduce duplicative costs? Are large districts cutting central offices to keep money in classrooms? No, and in fact, according to a recent study by Dr. Benjamin Scafidi of Georgia College and State University, central office growth has nearly doubled the growth of students.

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